The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1887-02-04
NOT A DELUSIoN.
Sermon by Rev. T. De Witt Tai
mage, D..
How Millions OF the Human Race Have
Been Deludear' Into Better Liyes
ana Brighter Hopes-A Few
Notable Examples.

u
took fo- his text a part Of the tweaty-frss
verse of the tweaty first chapter OF Ezekiel:
''He male his arrows bright. he consulted
witsaimages, he looked in the liver" The
sermon was as follows:
Two modes CT iivination by which the
Eing of Babylon proposed to find out the will
of God: He took bundle of arrows. put
them together, mixed them up, then pulled
forth one, and by the inscription en- 1t de-
cided which city he should first assault.
Then an animal was slain, and by tho
tighter or darker color of the liver the
brighter or darker prospect of success WAS
inferred. That is the meaning of the text:
"E e made his arrows bright. he consulted
with images, ne looked in the liver
Stupid Jelusionl And vet all the ages
have been filed with decisions. 1t seems
as if the world loves TO be hood win sed !;
the delusicn OF the text is only specimen
Of a vast number of deceits praeticed upon
the human race
In tue latter part OF the last century 10
hanna Southcote came forth pretending to
have Divine power, made pr0phesies, had
chapels built N her honor and one hundred
Thousand disciples came forth to follow
her About five years before the birth OK
Christ Apoilonus was born, and he came
forth, ami after i've years being speechless,
according to the tradition, ne healed the
sick and raised the dead and preached Writ
Ue. and. according TO the myth, having
deceased, was brought to resurrection
The Deiphic Oracle deceived vast null
titudes OF people-the Pythoness, seated in
the temple OF Appolo, ut:ering a crazy
largon from which the people guessed or
mis- guess ii their Individual or national
fJr;una' CT n scr tunes. The ut.eraaces
were OF such n!tur., III { y u = nil read
them any way y5u wan led IL real them A
General. going forth to battle, consulted
the Delphic Oracle. and he wanted to find
out whether he was going to be safe in the
battle or killed in the battle. and the
answer cauie forth from the Delphic
Oracle in such words that, if You put the
comma before the word NEVER it means
one thing, and if you put the comma after
the word never" 1t means another thing
Just opposite. The message from the
Delphic Oracle to the General was: go
forth. return never in battle shalt thou
perish If he was killed, that was ac-
corning 10 the Delphic Oracle; if he came
home safely, that was according 10 the
Delphic Oracle.
SO the ancient auguries deceived the peo-
fight of birds, or by the intonation OF thun-
der. or by the inside appearance OF slain
animals. told the fortunes or misfcrtune5
Of individ or nations TIE sibyis de-
ceived the people. The sibyis Were sup
posed to be insp red women who lived IN
caves and who wrote the skyline books,
afterwards purchased by Tarquin the
Proud. So late as the year 1893 a man
arose in New York, pretending TO DE a Dr.
vine being, and played his part so well
that wealthy merchants becam, his disci-
pies and threw thcir fortunes into his dis
cipeship.
And so in all ages there have been NEGRO
n1aRcies, lamentations. witchcrafts, sorcer-
les. magical arts. entertainments, diyina-
tons and delusions. The one of the
text WAS only specimen Of that which
has b-en trauSpirlng in all ages of the
world None Of these decisions accom-
plished any good; they deceived, they
pauperized the people, they were as cruel
as they were absurd; they opened no hos
pitals. they healed no wounds, they wiped
away no tears, they euaacipatei nc serf-
dom.
But there are those who say that all these
decisions combine are as nothing COM
pared with the dalusien now abroad III the
wo-Id-the delGsion of the Christian re-
n-ion. That dalusIoa has to-day two hun
dred million dupes. 1t proposes toencircle
the earth with its girdle. That which has
been called a delusioR has already over
Swallowed the Appalachian range or this
side of the sea, and it has overshadowed
the Bal kan and Caucasian ranges on the
other side the sea; it has con.
cuered England and the Unitei
States. This champion delusiou, this
hoax. this swindle of the ages, as it has
been called. has gone forth to conquer the
islands of the Pacific; the MeIanasia and
the Micronesia and Ma,ayaa Polyuesia
have already surrendered TO the 3elusiou-
Yea it has conquered the Indian archt-
peiago, and Bo-neo, and Sullatra and
Celebes and Java have fallen under its
wiles. In the FIJI Islands, where there are
$4,000 people, 10000 have already become
the dupes of this Christian religion, and il
things 90 On as they are row going on. and
if the influence of this great hailucinatiou
OF the ages can not be stopped, it wil
swallow the globe.
Surprising, then, that Christianity is the
delusioa of the centuries, as some have
pronounced ii, l propose this morning tc
show yea what has been accomplished by
this chimera, this fallscy, this hoax, this
swindle of the ages.
In the first place, l remark that this de
fusion Of the Christian religion has made
wonderful transformations of human char
acter. / will go down the aisle of any
church IN Christendom, aud will find OF
either side that aisle those who were once
profigate, profane, uuclean of speech anc
unciean Of acton, drunken and lost Blu
- - AL, - 81, u,
tan religion they have been completely
transformed, and now they are kind ant
amiable, asd genial and loving. and useful
Every body secs the change Under tbs
power OF this great hailucination they have
Quit their former associates. anC
whereas they once found their chief de
Light among those who gambled and swore
and raced horses, now they find theil
chief joy among those who go to prayer
meetings and churches, so complete is this
delusion- Yea, their own families have
noticed it: the wife has noticed 1t: the
children have noticed it The money thai
went for rum. now goes for books and fol
clothes and for education He is a new
man; all who know him say there h.:
been q wonderful change. What is tbs
carse Of this char gei This grea. hallr
cination of the Christian religion There
Is Is much difference between what he i:
now and what he eRce was as between q
rose and nettle, as between dove and {
vulNre, as between day and night
Tremendous delusioI-
Admiral Farragut one Of the most I'D
mired men Of the American navy, early
became . victim Of this Christian delusion,
and sexted, not long before his death, .,
Long Branch, he was giving some friends
N account Of his early life He said:
NY fasher went down in behalf OF the Cnifed
States Government % put N end TO Aaron
Burrs rebellion Iwas . cahin-boy and ven,
along with him I could sreae like an old salt
could gamble IN every style of gambling:
krer All she ricke.inass fhe-s vas - ~